The convention will also feature seminars on subjects such as self-government, news from the National Rifle Association and the Libertarian National Campaign Committee. It will be held at the Marriott Denver West.

The party’s 2012 presidential candidate, Johnson will speak to the next steps the party should take to secure personal freedoms. He is also expected to tout the legalization of marijuana as major win for the expansion of individual liberties.

“People in both states (Colorado and Washington) are now free to indulge in personal marijuana use without the fear of arrest and a criminal record,” Johnson said in a release. “Economic and commercial success is being touted in both states as a byproduct of this common sense drug law reform.”

Johnson also intends to bring his skis with him. His non-profit organization, the Our America Initiative, is hosting a raffle in which the winner enjoys a day of skiing with the governor March 29.

The grassroots effort attempting to repeal the bill passed by the Democratic-controlled legislature and signed into law by Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper is known as Save our Shotguns. The group is trying to put a measure on the 2014 ballot that would let voters decide whether to undo House Bill 1224.

The group released a poll conducted May 16 through 21 that shows Colorado voters favor repeal 52 percent to 44 percent, with 4 percent undecided. The study was conducted by NSON Opinion Strategy.

“Despite what some, including the Colorado legislature and Gov. Hickenlooper would have us believe, the Second Amendment is crystal clear,” Johnson said, in a news release.

“Placing an arbitrary limit on the capacity of a gun magazine is an unacceptable restriction on the rights of gun owners, manufacturers and sellers, and I am anxious to help give voters an opportunity to restore those rights. … Restricting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens does not make anyone safer. Rather, it simply empowers those who have no regard for the law and who wish to do us harm.”

While the eyes of the political world will be focused on a stage at the University of Denver on Wednesday night for the first presidential debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, the third-party candidates running for president are clamoring for a slice of attention, too.

Meanwhile, Green Party nominee Jill Stein plans a more confrontational approach. Stein, according to a news release from her campaign, will participate in an “Occupy the Debates” march in Denver and an after-rally party at the Mercury Cafe.

The next time you stop in 7-Eleven for a lottery ticket, vote in the presidential race.

The convenience store chain once again has unveiled custom coffee cups for the presidential nominees, and is tracking the sales for the major-party candidates. (Who knows? If they had included Libertarian Gary Johnson their sales might have exploded.)

From a company press release: “Dubbed ‘7-Election,’ the unabashedly unscientific and just-for-fun poll has correctly mirrored the final results of the 2000, 2004 and 2008 elections with more than 6 million cups cast each election year. In other words, they’ve created a bit of a coffee caucus.”

A billboard backing Amendment 64, which would regulate marijuana like alcohol, will be highlighted at a news conference today.

A new group that backs a ballot measure to regulate marijuana like alcohol today will show off its new billboard, which features a father and a son. The father asks for marijuana sales to be regulated to keep it out of his son’s hands.

Moms and Dads for Marijuana Regulation is holding a news conference at 11:30 a.m at the billboard site next to the Denver Broncos stadium on Federal Boulevard.

Opponents were critical.

“A billboard cannot paper over the fact that legalization will increase access to marijuana for kids,” said Laura Chapin, spokeswoman for Smart Colorado, which was formed to oppose the ballot measure.

Ron Paul won’t be in attendance when the Colorado Libertarian Party has its state convention this weekend, but nonetheless, chairman Jeff Orrok remains hopeful the Texas congressman will eventually run as a Libertarian candidate for president.

“He has received a lot of attention and I think it’ll be good for the party,” said Orrok. “But it’s hard to say what’s really going on in his head in terms of what decision he’ll make in the presidential race.”

Math is not in his favor as Paul, with just 47 delegates, is unlikely to win the Republican presidential nomination. Yet speculation still swirls as to whether he’ll run as an Libertarian candidate in the general election.

But for now, there are three candidates running as Libertarians for the presidency: Gary Johnson, Scott Keller and Lee Wrights.

And all three will duke it out in a debate at this weekend’s convention.

According to a news release, the two-day event will include a number of speakers, including a banquet Saturday evening featuring David Bergland.

Bergland was the party’s presidential nominee in 1984, and has served as its national chairman for six years.

Orrok says that at the convention the party will nominate candidates for state and county races.

The weekend convention is being held at the DoubleTree Hotel in Aurora.

Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson announces his plans to seek the Republican nomination for president in New Hampshire in April.

The 58-year-old endurance athlete, businessman and two-term governor raced in his eighth Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race last Saturday after a 10-year absence. He finished 107th in the men’s 50-59 division with a time of 11:12:08, a little off his best sub-nine-hour showing in the 1990s.

Among this election cycle’s crop of presidential aspirants, Johnson is definitely the fittest.

“I don’t think the bar is very high,” said the renowned endurance athlete who has completed four Ironmans and climbed Mount Everest.

THEY MADE HIM AN OFFER HE COULDN’T REFUSE: The landman for Chesapeake Energy Corp. presented Mark Faut with a choice: sign a lease for his oil rights or have his 7 acres forced into the drilling plan by the state. The Denver Post.

A DIFFERENT KIND OF STAMINA: Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson skipped the Iowa straw poll to compete in the Leadville 100. Politico.

GOING TO POT: After 15 years as a white-collar “corporate nomad,” Dan Rogers found his new career in the thriving green-collar industry of Colorado, the only state in America with a for-profit medical marijuana market. First of two parts in the Sacramento Bee.

WEEK 2 OF LOBATO: Amendment 23 author Cary Kennedy had a rough cross-examination, and the first real legal tussling erupted as the Lobato trial ended its second week. EdNewsColorado.

READ THIS: The Jefferson County Public Library system has a dedicated mill levy to fund operations, but small — and vocal — group of residents fed up that the county can raid that pot to cover budget gaps in other departments has renewed efforts to form a special district to protect financing for system. The Denver Post.

MAP WARS: Clashes over how best to carve the Boulder County portion of Longmont into two House districts are likely to continue during a Monday night public hearing on the University of Colorado campus. Longmont Times-Call.

MEANWHILE IN DURANGO: About 30 people from La Plata, Montezuma and Archuleta counties shared their views with the reapportionment commissioners. The Durango Herald.

AND REDISTRICTING NATIONWIDE: For the first time since the landmark Voting Rights Act became law in 1965, a Democratic administration in Washington will oversee the high-stakes, once-a-decade political redistricting based on the census. The Los Angeles Times.

SHRINKING STATE DOLLARS AT CU: Increasingly, the University of Colorado is relying on private donors to compensate for the loss of state dollars. Funding figures that stretch back five decades show a drastic evolution in CU’s revenue stream, with state support shrinking and private donations growing. The Boulder Daily Camera.

BEING ALL THEY CAN BE: Even as the length of combat tours shrinks and the American role in Afghanistan and Iraq winds down, a massive push is under way at Fort Carson to get soldiers ready for war in Afghanistan next year. Colorado Springs Gazette.

TRUST ME: Three public trustees have accepted thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the state’s top foreclosure lawyer and companies and individuals tied to him. The Denver Post.

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Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.